Newspaper Website Design Trends in 2019

Newspaper website design trends are different from the other website trends for the simple fact that news websites carry a lot of content. The content has to be arranged and displayed in a manner that the visitors will be encouraged to engage with it. It is for this reason that some newspaper website design trends rarely change.

Starting a news website can be a profitable business as Singaporeans have wholeheartedly embraced technology. The internet penetration rate is at 83% with 91% of Singaporeans accessing the internet via their mobile phones. Established news websites can also benefit from a change in tact given the above statistic.

A careful examination of the news websites in Singapore has revealed a few web design trends that you should know if you want to achieve real success in the business.

Newspaper Website Design Trends in 2019

Banner Ads

These news websites need to generate revenue to stay in business, and banner ads are a vital source of revenue for these sites.

The ad is usually in the header section of the website to increase visibility. However, some news websites use ads on both the header and the sides. The banner ads can be found on every page of the site.

Whitespace and Color Schemes

News websites have embraced whitespace because it enhances readability and makes the content look less intimidating. As such, the first thing you notice when a page loads is the amount of whitespace available on the page.

The colour of the text, on the other hand, is typically dark to make the text visible. The dark colour is used for the headers and the body of the content.

Blue is also a popular text colour for news websites because it communicates trust and dependability. Many Singaporean news websites use various shades of blue in their article title and links.

A dark shade of red is also common with some websites, especially on the titles and call-to-action to ‘read more.’

Navigation Menu

This is a newspaper website design trend that has been popular for some years. The navigation menu is placed below the header so that the site visitors can quickly find the news item.

This is different from the regular Singapore business websites which have a navigation bar on the top left corner to enable visitors to check out the site’s other pages.

Tabbed Content

Singaporean news sites love bringing popular and recent news stories to the fore; readers are more likely to click on these types of stories. One of the ways they do this is by creating tabbed content areas to place these stories.

The news sites benefit by getting more design space to put up other pertinent news items.

Invisible Column Layout

Using grid lines to separate different news items was a popular newspaper website design trend ten years ago in Singapore. The news sites have since ditched the grid lines for invisible columns which makes the site look less cluttered.

However, they still use lines to separate the various news categories. The combination of the lines and the invisible column gives the news site an aesthetic appeal and a more organized look.

The rise of blogs as news sources has seen a lot of people confuse news sites for blogs. Nevertheless, there is a clear difference between the two.

Differences between News Websites and Blogs

Comments

The owner of a blog values the blog’s comment section a lot. A hot discussion after a blog post is likely to bring in more readers who want to share their opinions. The blogger might even write a follow-up piece to keep the engagement going.

The blog’s community can have a significant impact on the content the blogger chooses to upload/update. This is why bloggers regularly promote their comment section by asking readers to comment if they agree or have a different opinion.

This is different for a news website. There is a comment section, and the reader’s opinions are valued, but the comments cannot dictate the type of content the news website chooses to upload. As such, the comment section is rarely promoted.

Social Media

Blogs rely on social media to drive traffic to their website. They go to great lengths to ensure that they have integrated social media icons on their blogs and they aggressively promote their content on the various social media platforms.

These blogs also regularly ask their readers to vote on matters that they deem critical. For example, they might ask their readers to vote at the end of a piece of content if they would like similar content in the future.

News websites in Singapore use social media differently; they post links of their content on the various social media platforms and have share buttons at the end of content pieces. They do not explicitly ask the readers to share the content; the readers only do when they feel the information is crucial enough to share with their online friends.

These news sites never ask their readers to cast votes under specific content pieces. They report news to inform, educate, and entertain. If the editor decides that the content has met the criteria, then the content will be posted.

RSS Feed

RSS feed stands for really simple syndication or rich site summary. It allows internet users to create customised online feeds from their favorite websites. Content from the websites is then delivered to the device of the user immediately it is updated on the site.

Bloggers love using RSS feeds as it ensures that their readers will get theircontent piece as soon as it is updated.

Singaporean news sites, on the other hand, do not try to shove RSS feeds down their reader’s throats. They count on the effectiveness of the content being organized in various categories. This is how websites offer their feeds.

Asking users to subscribe for content was another critical difference between blogs and news sites, but the latter has since joined the former in asking for subscriptions.

Final Word

Singaporeans are increasingly embracing technology; according to the Singapore Business Review, 62% believe the internet offers more opportunities than threats. News websites that take the above newspaper website design trends into consideration will resonate well with this segment of the market. Also, such a website has a high chance of being among the top ranking websites in the country.

Author Bio

Tom Koh is widely recognised as a leading SEO consultant in Asia who has worked to transform the online visibility of the leading organisations such as SingTel, Capitaland, Maybank, P&G, WWF, etc. Recently he was instrumental in consulting for a New York-based US$30B fund in an US$4Bn acquisition. Tom is a Computational Science graduate of the National University of Singapore. In his free time he performs pro-bono community work and traveling. Google+